According to South African law, in order for a Will to be accepted as valid by the Master of the High Court (a statutory body to which deceased estates are reported), it must follow the legal formalities outlined in section 1(a) of the Wills Act, 7 of 1953. (hereinafter referred to as the Wills Act).
The main requirements under the Wills Act are that the Will be signed in the presence of the testator and two competent witnesses. Failure to comply with the formal requirements of the Wills Act renders the Will null and void. Please keep in mind that the Master of the High Court will only accept an original signed Will, not a certified copy.
An electronic will is one that has been saved on a hard disk or memory device as a data message, email, or word document. This type of Will is typically typed on a computer/email/data message, but there is no actual signature to allow the document to be recognized as authentic by the law.
The legislator recognized the need for a court to be able to declare a Will valid even if it does not follow the formalities of the Wills Act and added section 2(3):
“(3) If a court is satisfied that a document, or an amendment to a document, drafted or executed by a person who has died since the drafting or execution thereof, was intended to be his Will or an amendment to his Will, the court shall order the Master to accept that document, or that document as amended, as a Will for the purposes of the Administration of Estates Act, 1955, even if it does not comply with all the formalities for the execution or amendment of Wills refe
As a result, if an application is made to the High Court, the court must be satisfied that (a) the document was drafted by the deceased, (b) the deceased has died since the drafting of the document, and (c) the document was intended by the deceased to be his last Will and Testament.
There is currently no legal certainty regarding how and when electronic data can be used to convey your final Will and Testament. If you want to avoid complications, draft your Will on paper and have it properly executed in accordance with the Wills Act until the Wills Act is amended to include electronic Wills.
Is it legal to make a will online?
Making a will online is completely legal. You must meet certain requirements in order for the document to be valid in a court of law, just as you would when writing a will the traditional way.
What is the cost of a will in South Africa?
Depending on which insurer you approach to draft your will, the cost could range from R250 to R1 500.
What causes a will to be legally void?
It has not been properly signed. It’s been destroyed or tampered with. The person who wrote the will (known as the ‘testator’) was not of sound mind when they wrote it. The testifier was put under duress.
